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Caution and common sense argued that it was time to put an end to this adventure. But the prospect of riding through the darkness with excitement coursing through his veins, completing the mission, and making his father proud was too powerful to resist. He would be watching every day for the black ribbon to appear on the fence.
* * *
Gerda had finished her work at the doctor’s office and had chosen to take the long way home, down Main Street and around the third block. The worst of the heat was gone for the day. The sun hung low, a ball of fiery red above the parched yellow pastures.
This was her favorite time of day, with people hurrying home and the stores shooing their last customers out the door. From some nearby, unseen place came the sound of a piano—a simple piece, like a child practicing.
She dawdled a bit, taking time to study her faint reflection in the window of the hardware store. Her pregnancy wasn’t really showing yet. She could still wear her pretty clothes, although the dress she’d chosen today was becoming tight over her swollen breasts. She’d done her best to hide her condition from her family, but her mother and Britta had already noticed the changes and guessed the reason. Even her father showed signs of being suspicious. She’d begun to dread going home in the evening when he was there. Once he discovered the truth, Gerda didn’t even want to think about what he might do.
Only marriage could save her.
As if the thought of marriage had summoned him, she heard an auto coming down Main Street, approaching from behind. Mason’s vehicle was a cut above the Model Ts that were a common sight in Blue Moon. The engine had a distinct sound, like a loud purr. Even without turning to look, Gerda recognized it.
She needed to talk to him, but he hadn’t come around. It was almost as if he were avoiding her. This could be her only chance.
As the auto came closer, she turned, stepped off the boardwalk in front of him, and held up her hand. The brakes squealed as he stopped.
“Good Lord, Gerda, I could have hit you!” She could see his frustrated expression through the dusty windscreen.
She gave him her sweetest smile. “Hello, Mason. Fancy meeting you here. I hope you don’t mind giving me a ride. We need to talk.”
“Yes, I suppose we do.” With the engine running, he went around the auto, opened the passenger door, and brushed the dust off the leather seat. “You know, it might not be good for either of us to be seen together.”
“Then let’s go someplace where we won’t be seen.”
“All right, for a few minutes. Then I’ll be bringing you back.”
He helped her into the auto, closed the door, and went around to the driver’s seat. The dust that rose from under the wheels trailed behind them as they headed south, out of town, in the direction of his ranch.
At first Gerda thought he might be taking her to his home. But he turned west onto a narrow side road that ran along the top of a low earthen dike edging a patch of bogland. Fed by foul-smelling water that seeped from the ground, the bog covered three acres of willows, cattails, and sedges. Here and there, the skeleton of a dead tree rose above water where frogs laid strings of eggs that hatched into tadpoles. Red-winged blackbirds flitted and called among the cattails. Mosquitoes filled the air with their high-pitched buzzing. Gerda felt one bite her arm as Mason halted the auto on the road and turned off the engine that had drowned out any conversation. In the silence, Gerda could hear the chirr of insects and the croaking of frogs.
By now, the sun had set. The sky was deepening swiftly into dusk. Mason turned partway in the seat to face her. “All right, Gerda. You wanted to talk. I’m all yours.”
Gerda fidgeted with her hands, wishing she’d prepared better. “Kristin told me she spoke to you.”
“Yes, she did. And what did I say?”
“You said that my baby wasn’t yours. But she didn’t believe you. Nobody will believe you. So, you might as well marry me. That’s what your brother did. He married my sister, even though the baby wasn’t his. And now, look at them. They have a beautiful family.”
Mason shook his head. “So you had this all figured out, didn’t you? Get me between your legs, make me believe the baby’s mine, and force me to do the right thing. Except it didn’t work, did it?”
Hot-faced, she shook her head. “But it still could. You need a wife. I can cook and sew and keep house. And I’m pretty. Even you told me that.”
“Then find a man who’s looking for a wife, Gerda. What about the real father of your baby? What’s the story? Is he already married?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been telling my family that the father is you.”
“Well, tell them anything you want. It won’t make any difference. I’m not cut out to be a husband or a father. I like my freedom, and I mean to keep it.”
“Try saying that to my father.”
Mason’s expression darkened. “The last time your father tried to bully me, he ended up in jail. If he comes near me again, I’ll have him arrested.”
“I thought you loved me!” Gerda started to cry, deep, broken sobs and copious tears. “What am I going to do if you don’t marry me? I’ll be ruined. And when people find out, you’ll be in trouble too. You can’t arrest the whole town!”
For the first time, Mason sounded angry. “I don’t give a damn what this one-horse town thinks of me—or you. If you can’t stand the disgrace, find someplace to go, like a young mother’s home. Leave the baby there and come back as pure and sweet as when you left.”
“No.” Gerda could be stubborn, too, when she chose. “I’m staying right here. And if I go down, Mason Dollarhide, I’m taking you with me.”
